The STARCADE! Pilot featured 24 contestants, all playing at the same time on 24 separate games - 8 Defender games, 8 Pac Man games, 8 Centipede games.

Nolan Bushnell, inventor of 'Pong' and then owner of Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time Theatre, held auditions in several of his locations. We flew the 24 contestants to San Francisco, put them up in a first-class hotel, added a few sightseeing things, and subjected them to a marathon taping session that proved difficult but not impossible ... given the fact that we didn't know how to quit.

These are the original 24 Starcaders without which there would be no STARCADE! Contestants outlined in green have checked in. Click on their photo to find out where they are today .